


Best Kept Secrets

by IAMS



Series: Young!Daddy!Tony AU [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clint bonding with a small child, Daddy Tony Stark, Deaf Clint Barton, Deaf! Mute! Amelia Rhodes, F/F, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Team as Family, Tony Feels, Tony grew up in poverty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 16:19:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4794152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAMS/pseuds/IAMS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Tony's in his early twenties and secretly raising a toddler. He's running a billion dollar company and saving the world on a weekly basis on top of that. </p><p>Steve confronts Tony on prioritizing his responsibilities and the results are disastrous. </p><p>Until the Avengers find out about Tony's three year old, that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

What no one knows is that Howard Stark actually sank all of his money into an extensive search for Captain America very early on in his son’s life.

No one knows that Obadiah Stane took over S.I. behind the scenes, discreetly keeping the company afloat, and the Stark name alive and well.

No one knows about where Howard’s only son actually was during the time between his father’s bankruptcy and his twenty-first birthday. Everyone likes to assume the heir to the Stark fortune and company went to a boarding school and then attended MIT, graduating top of his class, and reappeared to take over S.I. when he came of age.

No one knows that Tony Stark didn’t finish high school, much less go to college, or that all the degrees in his name are nothing more than just very good forgeries.

What really happens is that at twenty-one, he’s asked to run the company for his late father and be the face of Stark Industries, by Obadiah, who has gross ulterior motives.

And Tony? Tony works at an auto shop in a small no-name town in the middle of nowhere. He’s raising a daughter practically all on his own, and the promise of something more, the promise of a better life for his child, is what makes him accept the offer in the end.

The young man packs his measly bags, straps his one year old to his front, and gets on the next flight to New York, first class, courtesy of his father’s oldest friend. He takes this robotic monstrosity he calls ‘Dum-E’ with him too, and Obadiah tries to keep the grimace off his face when the thing loudly beeps at him.

Admittedly, he’s not a great CEO. He’s the face of the company, he only needs to smile and look pretty, and for the amount of money Obadiah’s throwing at him, he’s just fine with that. He’s a mechanic, so he does build things, mostly for his and his daughter’s amusements, and that takes up most of his time.

He does interviews with the press, feeds everyone lies about where he’s been for the last couple of decades. Bullshits about missing dear old Dad, and never ever tells anyone he has a daughter. It’s not for shame--Amelia Rhodes is the best damn thing that’s ever happened to him--it’s for fear of her safety. He doesn’t want her in harm’s way of anyone after the company money, and he doesn’t want her growing up in the media frenzies limelight.

Less than a year later, Tony Stark is taken by the Ten Rings and put through hell. In his absence, Jamila Rhodes--Rhodey--his best friend and the mother of his child, drops a semester of school to take care of Amelia.

Upon his return, the first thing Tony does is stop S.I. from manufacturing weapons. He realizes with dawning horror what his ignorance is causing, and then with more horror what Obadiah’s plan had been all along.

Stane had taken over S.I. nearly two decades ago, but under awful circumstances. The company had been at it’s lowest, after Howard had bankrupted them, and so Obadiah had never officially announced to the press his new ownership. Instead, he’d waited until the last Stark was old enough and then had him “run” it publicly, garnering good press all the while.

Now, with the company back to it’s former glory, Stane could finally take the reigns. His only obstacle--Stark--could easily be taken out of the way of his throne. He’d make it look like a terrible tragedy, and the terrorist act would only serve in S.I.’s favor. Or so he’d thought. He’d never expected Tony to make it out alive.

Ironman is born, and Stane’s twenty-year run as CEO of Stark Industries is over.

Of course, with Ironman, comes other problems.

\----------------------------------

Tony excuses himself from yet another debriefing, and jets it out of the room the second Fury waves him away.

Steve furrows his brows, “We all have other things we could be doing right now, but Stark really needs to learn to prioritize.” he grumbles. He’s tired of being mid-word every time something happens to come up in the young man’s oh so busy schedule.

Fury doesn’t look at him when he says, “He is prioritizing, Rogers.” and he certainly doesn’t feel like elaborating, either.

Steve huffs out his frustrations after the debrief, in the quinjet.

Natasha shrugs easily. “If it’s any consolation, whatever it is Stark keeps running out on us for, it’s very important.” she assures their leader. She’s seen the look on Tony’s face before, on other people, and although she can’t quite pin it down, she knows he’s not just ducking out of meetings to mess with them, it’s something significant keeping him busy.

Clint sighs. “I wish I had the ‘Oh, sorry got a billion dollar company to run’ excuse so I could skip out on shit.” The kid’s barely twenty three, but he’s CEO of S.I. and a bonafide superhero on the side, to boot. Clint sometimes wonders how the hell he manages at such a young age.

Then again, Captain America, aka their leader, is only twenty-seven, something a lot of them forget sometimes.

\-------------------------------------------

It takes Steve longer than he’d like to admit to realize that Tony doesn’t actually live in the tower with the rest of the team. He drops in every few days to show them some fun new gizmo he’s made, but leaves immediately after. Steve’s not entirely surprised that the billionaire has another home somewhere, but he’ll be damned if  he keeps letting Tony get away with skipping out on team bonding exercises and training.

“Look Stark,” he corners the smaller man the next time he tries to skip out on a debriefing. “I know you need to run S.I. but if you’re going to commit to being a part of this team, you need to set your priorities straight. No half-assing it.” he doesn’t like calling a team member out in front of all the other Avengers, but they’re rarely in the same room together, as is.

Tony makes a face, “I’m not half-assing anything, now move.” “No,” Steve stands his ground. “We’re talking about this now. You’re either on this team, or you’re not. You can’t keep ditching and then showing up whenever you feel like it. You can’t expect me to be alright with that, Stark.”

Tony’s phone beeps twice in quick succession, which only serves to agitate the situation further. “We can talk about this later. Move out of my way, Rogers.”

“It’s always later with you--”

Another beep. “Move or I will move you.” Tony growls, shoulders set, jaw locked, and he looks ready to do just that, with or without the suit.

Bucky gets up immediately, “Hey, watch it.” he warns, moving to stand in front of his best friend. He knows Tony Stark isn’t an actual threat to Captain America, not in his current attire, at least, but the idea of anyone harming Stevie makes the hairs on his arms stand up.

“Jesus fucking Christ Rogers, I need to go, get the hell outta my way already!” Tony says, his voice just below a scream, completely ignoring the Winter Soldier’s presence just to his side.

“I’m sure another meeting can wait, Stark, I know you have Pepper to help, and I think she’s more than capable of handling it herself. If you’re just looking for a way to get out of doing--”

“Rogers, stand down.” Fury demands, an air of finality around the statement that’s hard to ignore.

Steve only lets it rile him up even more. “No! You know what? I’m sick of people letting you get away with this asinine behavior! I get it! You’re crazy rich--you’re uh--”

“Richie Rich.” Clint pipes in, yelping when Natasha kicks him in the shin.

“Yes! That! You probably grew up getting everything you ever wanted and Howard probably spoiled you rotten, so I can understand how consideration for other people you work with might not be something you understand, but--”

“Fuck you.” Tony spits out, and he pushes hard in an attempt to flee, but Steve’s reflexes kick in immediately, and he goes to grab him by the shoulder, but the momentum is too quick, and Tony pulls too hard the other way, and Steve doesn’t realize how much strength he’s using when they all hear a sickening pop.

Tony lets out a half-choked gasp and hunches over, his hand going up to protect the dislocated shoulder in his left arm.

Steve’s almost as pale as Tony, the word “sorry” stuck in his throat.

Bruce practically jumps over the table in his haste to check on his friend. “Tony, come here, sit, sit down. Tony? Shit.”

Tony’s shaking, and Bruce hopes to God nothing’s broken. Before he can try to get the young man to sit and let him examine the injury again, Tony turns, still trembling, to face Steve, who’s frozen in place.

“I hate you.” He hisses, teeth bared, “You condescending, self-righteous, always-takes-the-moral-high-ground, piece of shit. I grew up in the projects, I lived in a fucking box, I picked my meals out of the neighbors trash until I was old enough to get a job, you asshole. You know where all that Stark fortune went two decades ago? It went into Howard’s ‘Let’s go find Captain America and bankrupt my family’ fund! So take your damn speech and go fuck yourself with it.” he’s breathing hard by the time he’s done talking, and Bruce can tell half of it is from the pain radiating from his shoulder, alone.

“W-what?” Steve startles out of his stupor. “Howard….he wouldn’t do that.”

It’s the wrong thing to say, and everyone in the room can tell, from the way Tony’s face scrunches up in anger. Except he doesn’t react the way they’re expecting, he looks away and sits down. “Can you set this back? I’ll ice it when I get home.”

Bruce grimaces. He looks at the shoulder, prodding at it gently, and makes a quick assessment. “Alright, what I’m going to do now is scapular manipulation, I’m just going to rotate your shoulder blade, and hopefully it’ll relocate on it’s own. Stay still for this. Natasha, can you stand behind him and help me stabilize the arm?”

The spy nods and is in position within seconds. A few minutes later, the shoulder is popped back into place without too much fuss.

Tony grunts, “Thanks.”

And then he gets up and leaves without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know next to nothing about astronauts or how video chats work up there, except from what little I read on the Internets so please excuse any errors concerning the subject. Also talk of an almost abortion in this chapter in case that's not pleasant for some folks. 
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy. :) And thanks to everyone for reading! I appreciate the support.

Happy opens the backseat, where Tony's waiting, and helps his employer strap Amelia securely into the carseat. "Thanks Happy."

"You know it's never a problem, boss." Happy smiles down at the sleeping toddler.

Publicly, he's in charge of driving Mr. Stark to and fro. Privately, he's Amelia's stand-in parent when it comes to fulfilling duties such as picking her up from school, parent teacher conferences, and anything else that might arise--like her getting sick in the middle of a school day, like today.

Happy knows Tony sometimes feels like a bad dad for not doing all those things himself, but it's necessary, if they want to keep the family relationship between the two a secret. It would not look good if the paparazzi spotted "playboy" Tony Stark at a preschool--the speculation would be ludicrous, and Amelia Rhodes' identity would be discovered.

"Hey, you alright back there? You look kinda' pale. Maybe that bug's gotcha too." Happy wonders, referring to the bug going around at the preschool that Amelia caught.

Tony shakes his head. "Just tired, Happy." he says, and it's not a complete lie. He is exhausted; he had a meeting with the board in the morning after dropping Amelia off with Happy, then a recon mission with the team, the debrief after that went oh so spectacularly, and now he's getting ready to go back home to his spacious loft in midtown New York to take care of a sick and fussy toddler.

He messages Rhodey while he's still in the car to tell her Amelia's come down with something but that she shouldn't worry.

_Thanks for letting me know. Skype tonight? I want to see her before bedtime._

Tony smiles.

_Yeah. She's out like a light right now so she should be wide awake and cranky as hell tonight. :)_

_Haha, can't wait. See you later, Tones._

Tony and Rhodey met in high school and became quick friends. At age sixteen, when both his parents passed away in a brutal car accident, Tony became an emancipated minor and had to drop out of school to pay his own bills.

Jamila and he stayed friends throughout the years and one drunken night between them resulted in a positive pregnancy test about a month later.

Tony remembers how scared they'd both been, they were both still just kids themselves. Tony was working odd jobs at the time and Jamila was working towards an early entrance into the Astronaut Candidate training program. A baby wasn't in either of their plans in life.

"The idea of kids never even crossed my mind!" she'd  cried, her fingers tracing over the fabric on her still flat belly, manically.

Rhodey was going places in life. She dreamt big and was so close to touching the literal stars, and having a child right now would wreck everything she'd worked so hard for.

Tony had driven them two towns over in his incredibly old,  broken down car and they'd sat in the clinic waiting room together for what felt like a long time, holding each other's hands desperately, until Rhodey's name had been called.

They'd held each other and said things like "I love you Tones." and "You're my best friend Jam."

Except they hadn't been able to go through with it in the end.

"I can take care of the baby when it's time," Tony had said, "You have to go to that program and be a badass astronaut, Jam. You can't stay in this one horse town for the rest of your life." then he'd grinned. "Plus, when you start raking in the cash me and the baby can bum off your wild success."

And that had settled it. Rhodey and Tony were going to be parents. Rhodey was rooming at the school dorms at the time but spent whatever time she wasn't attending classes for the next eight months at Tony's shack. Tony got a full-time job at the only auto-shop in town and worked crazy hours in order to afford everything the baby would need when it was born.

Now, Rhodey's up in space, exploring the unexplored. She's able to call via Skype once a week and occasionally gets time off, which she always uses to visit the pair in New York and spends quality time with Amelia.

When Tony gets upstairs, Amelia's wide awake and got a stuffy red nose.

 _Everything hurts Daddy._ she signs, pouting.

 _I know, baby._ he signs back, _You want some soup? I can make you chicken soup with lots of noodles._

Amelia nods. _Can I get jello? The red kind._

Tony picks her up and sets her on his hip. _You can have all the jello in the world, my little warrior princess._

She giggles. _That's silly, Daddy._ she pecks him on the nose and then lets her head fall onto his chest, snuggling closer, as he walks around the kitchen, preparing the soup one-handed.

\-----

Later in the night Rhodey calls, and although Amelia's grumpy from her messed up sleep schedule and the bug, she jumps at the chance to see her mom.

 _Hi mommy._ she signs, _I'm sick. Daddy made me soup but I barfed it up._

 _Aw, hon bun, I'm sorry._ Rhodey makes kissy faces at the screen. _There, with those kisses and Daddy's medicine you'll feel better real soon._

Amelia smiles down at the laptop. _Really?_

_I promise._

\----

"Still a 'no' on the hearing aide front?" Jamila asks, once she's read Amelia a bedtime story and Tony's tucked her in for the night.

Tony sighs, "Not even a budge, Rhodey. Remember the last time? I even had it designed in her favorite color. She says the noise scares her. Keeps taking it off when I'm not there."

Amelia was born deaf, and the doctors had informed them that with hearing aides she could gain a small semblance of hearing, that reading people's lips would be easier, and that the sound of  her own voice might give her the confidence she needs to start speaking again.

Tony knows logically that it's not his fault that his daughter's a selective mute right now, but he still feels somewhat responsible for it. The trauma of having her father kidnapped and suddenly shifting her whole life for a time, when she was still only two years old affected her speech a lot. Before that awful incident Amelia spoke all the time, a regular chatter box of broken sentences and and happy babbling.

Now she sticks strictly to signing. And she won't even consider the hearing aides, hiding them under furniture and pretending she lost them.

"These things take time." Jamila encourages, "Have you tried bribing her with ice cream?" she jokes.

Tony laughs. "Cute. How's space you badass astronaut?"

"Oh, you know, conquering one planet at a time. The usual, Tones." She says, before going into extreme detail over her latest project and all of the members of her team. "I'm a shoe in for Commander Pilot. Next year at the latest." she gushes.

Tony grins widely, "I knew you could do it, you giant nerd." he congratulates.

Rhodey rolls her eyes. "Oh shut up, you're the even bigger nerd who tutored me in physics for like six years."

"Only 'cause your grandma made the best oatmeal cookies." Tony sighs fondly. Jamila had been raised by her elderly grandmother, who, may her soul rest in peace, had passed away two years before Amelia's birth, and had believed in her granddaughter's success in life more than anyone in the whole wide world. Jamila still got teary eyed whenever she thought about her.

"So," Rhodey leans forward. "You look real tense there buddy. Wanna' tell me who I should go looking to beat up?"

Tony wipes the surprised look off his face, because really, Rhodey's his best friend, they've been through hell and back, thick and thin together, the woman just knows him by now. "I think you'd need your entire ship in order to even make a dent." he sighs.

Rhodey's eyes narrow into tiny slits. "Is it Rogers? It's Rogers, isn't it? Look, great American hero or not, I will kick some serious red white and blue ass, dude. Watch me." she frowns. "What happened?"

Tony looks down, embarrassed. "Happy got a call from the school nurse about Amelia being sick earlier today and he started texting me about coming around SHIELD to get me so we could go to the preschool and pick her up.

"I tried to leave the debrief early after clearing it with Fury and Rogers had a fucking fit over it." he turns bright red when he admits the next part, "He made me so angry I told him to shove all his Richie Rich, too spoiled to act like a responsible adult bullshit up his ass and then spilled that I didn't exactly grow up in a mansion."

Tony groans. "It was so stupid, Rhodey. I should've kept my mouth shut, I don't know why I let him to get to me like that. People talk shit all the time, and I'm usually fine with ignoring it, but I just, I snapped."

Rhodey scowls. "Yeah, definitely kicking this guy's ass, Tones."

Tony shakes his head, "I looked so childish today, Rhodey!" He whines, "I try really hard not to act like a kid. Just because I'm the youngest member of the team doesn't mean that's what I want them to think of me as. Then I go and throw a freaking tantrum in front of everyone."

"I'm writing an angry email to my girl after I get off this video chat and letting her know our boy is being messed with." Rhodey informs him, straight faced.

Tony scrunches up his face. "Oh my God no, do not involve Pepper in this!" he was happy when Pepper and Rhodey started dating a couple of years ago, but together? Those two are not to be fucked with.  

Rhodey sighs, "Well are you going to do anything about it?"

"I was mostly going to be a prick and give him the silent treatment for a while." Tony murmurs.

"Go tell Pepper! You need someone on your side when shit like this goes down, Tones. You know I'm always gonna' be in your corner, but I don't get off this expedition for another three months, and God knows what'll happen if you let things between you two stew for that long." Rhodey shakes her head. "Maybe the next time you need to book it out of a debrief Pepp can come get you--you know she doesn't mind, and you know Rogers wouldn't dare cross a perfect red hair on her head."

Tony snorts. "Well, you're not wrong. Look, I'll think about it." he doesn't even try to tell her about the dislocated shoulder, because he's pretty sure Rhodey would try to steer their ship back to Earth if she knew.

"That's all I ask."

\----

The next day Amelia is feeling much better, and Tony is beyond relieved that it was only a twenty four hour bug and nothing too awful. He keeps her home from preschool the next day regardless, just to make sure it's really out of her system.

He's cutting banana slices for lunch when he hears a knock at the door. Amelia, who's sitting up on the kitchen counter, notices he's stopped what he's doing and gives him a curious look.

Tony rolls his eyes, _It's probably Pepper here to be mean to Daddy._ he signs, and then hefts her up on his hip when she starts giggling.

He knew Rhodey would be a giant gossip and tell on him.

"Coming, coming," Tony calls out, when there's another knock. "Look, I know Rhodey might've made it sound like--" he says, as he opens the door, only to pause and stare in shock when he realizes it's Steve Rogers he's talking to.

"Stark, uh, who's child is that?" Steve blinks at the sight of a pajama clad Tony with a toddler saddled up against his hip.

Amelia stares up at the tall stranger in awe and tugs on the collar of Tony's shirt. _That's Captain America, Daddy!_ she practically jumps in his grip, she's so excited.

Tony forces a smile on his face. _Yeah baby. Cap and I have to talk, so I need to play in your room for a little, okay?_

 _Okay Daddy._ she nods dutifully but stares back at the superhero the whole time she's walking over to her room.

Steve has this look of bewilderment on his face, even as Tony invites him to sit down on the couch in the living room.

"How did you find me here?" Tony sits across from him and glares at the taller man.

"I um, I talked to Fury after what I did to you yesterday and he told me it was better if I just go and talk to you in person and then he gave me this address." Steve explains, brushing his sweaty palms against his jeans.

Tony wants to punch something. He must look it because Steve gulps and says, "He told me to be discreet and that's why I wore this. No one saw me come in here that I could tell." he assures, and then gestures to his attire, a baseball cap, a hoody and sunglasses he's tucked into his t-shirt.

Tony still looks miffed, though. And he definitely sounds it when he says, "Fine then. Talk."

Steve wrings his hands together. "I need to say I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. There's no excuse for that kind of behavior, and I hurt you, and I--" he looks down. "I'm really sorry Tony."

Tony scowls. "I don't need an apology from you. I don't care about yesterday. If we could move on from that whole dumb incident I'd be just fine with that. And from now on you stay the hell out of my business and I won't stick my nose into yours. Otherwise we're good."

Steve frowns, "Look, I'm sorry, really, but I can't accept that. We're not 'good'--not even close. We're supposed to be on the same team. I'm the leader of this team, and I clearly haven't been a very good one to you. I try to watch out for everyone under my command and because of my own bias I've neglected to do the same for you, Tony."

"And I reiterate. I don't need anything from you. I've been fine on my own for a very long time now, I don't need or want you looking out for me."

"If we can't solve our differences I'm going to have to bench you during the next attack. I don't know what all this tension might do on the battlefield and frankly, I don't want to find out." Steve says firmly.

Tony clenches his fists. "You can't do that!" and yes, now he definitely sounds all of his twenty three years.

"Tony you don't even live in the tower with us! How the hell are we supposed to be a team when we barely ever see you!?" Steve snaps, trying to keep his voice low, aware that there's a child present in the loft, and not wanting to frighten her. "And what are you doing with a toddler?" he asks, after realizing Tony never answered his initial question.

"That doesn't concern you."

Steve huffs. "See, that's your problem. You've got this whole secret life hidden from the people who trust you to have their backs out there when all our lives are on the line. How the hell am I supposed to trust someone like you to watch my six when you can't even answer one simple question without being a cryptic ass about it!?"

Tony grits his teeth. "Fine. You want to know? That's my daughter in there, and so God help you if anybody else outside of this room finds out, I will destroy you myself, suit be damned."

Steve's mouth snaps shut. The look on his face would be comical if not for the situation. "She--that little girl in there? What?" he can't wrap his head around it at all. Tony Stark is a father?

Tony makes a face. "Yeah Rogers, I know biracial kids in your day and age weren't exactly common but--"

Steve's eyes go wide and he looks horribly offended when he says, "You ass! I'm not surprised because of that, I'm surprised someone like you has a child at all!"

Tony crosses his arms over his chest. "Someone like _me_?"

Steve sighs, "Yeah Stark, someone like you. I barely know you. The only things I've learned about you are what I read on the paper and what I see, and honestly, neither have been particularly flattering."

"Right," Tony rolls his eyes. "I don't know what you want me to do about any of this." He glares at the Captain. "But you can't bench me. That's a dick move and you know it."

"So move in with us." Steve says immediately, like he was waiting for the moment to spring up his grand idea.

"What?"

"Move into the tower. You designed it yourself, so you know we've all got our own floors, so you'd still have your privacy. If you're living with us we'd get to see you more often and you might actually enjoy our team training exercises. Coulson works really hard on those." he adds. "And you know how secure the tower is, you and your daughter would be way more safe than in this place. And I'd swear all the Avengers to secrecy--no one outside the tower would know about her if that’s the way you want it."

Tony trusts every one of his teammates with his life, he knows for sure they're all good people, and as much as he hates to admit it, Steve's idea isn't horrible. Rhodey and he have been discussing the possibility of introducing Amelia to the Avengers a lot lately. He is Ironman after all, and she has to learn that soon, too.

"Give me some time to think about it." Tony rubs his arm. "It's not just my decision to make."

Steve nods, "I understand."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I also know next to nothing regarding toddlers except from what I read on the web. I just know they're pretty mobile and speak in full sentences at around 3-4 years and are adorable.


End file.
